The present invention pertains to clamping devices, and more specifically to clamping devices which are infinitely adjustable.
Clamps are well known and have long been used in a wide variety of industries and private workshops. A clamp is designed to bind or constrict or to press two or more parts together so as to hold them firmly. Many clamps, such as C-clamps, can clamp two items together or hold an item to a surface to be worked on. One drawback with this type of clamp is that in order to clamp an item on a surface, the surface must have an accessible edge. Thus, while the surface may be large, only the exposed edges can be used for clamping. Furthermore, many clamping devices are large and unwieldy, possibly obstructing work on the clamped item. For example, an item clamped to the surface of a work bench cannot easily be sanded because the clamp most probably projects past the surface to be sanded. Many attempts have been made to incorporate a clamp into a workbench or a tool, such as a drill press or miter box, with little success.
Accordingly, it is highly desirable to provide a new and improved clamping system.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved clamping system which is infinitely adjustable.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a clamping system which can be incorporated into a work bench or tools.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a new and improved clamping system which can clamp irregular shaped items.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a new and improved clamping system which allows clamping of an item to a surface.
The above problems and others are at least partially solved and the above purposes and others are realized in a clamp apparatus including a base having a surface, a plurality of holes positioned in a pattern in the surface of the base, and a cam peg including a shaft sized to be rotatably receivable by a selected one of the plurality of holes and a cam portion coupled to the shaft for rotation therewith. The cam portion is adapted to engage an item to be clamped on the base.
In more specific embodiments, the cam peg includes a rotation facilitating member which can be a grip or a tool receiving opening in an upper end of the shaft. In addition a locking mechanism can be affixed to the shaft for locking the cam peg within the selected one of the plurality of holes.